At the start of the week, we covered reports from the Portuguese media which linked Porto forward Evanilson with a Newcastle United move.
It was said the Magpies were interested in two players from the Dragons, with the 22-year-old being one of them, and since his club don’t want him to go, they’d use his €100m release clause to protect him this summer.
It’s fair to say those rumours about Newcastle didn’t really make a lot of noise during the week, as other newspapers in Portugal didn’t even repeat them. Still, newspaper O Jogo today features a story about the player’s future, as they’ve managed to interview his agent, and they give a mention to the Magpies’ recent interest.
“His idea is to continue at FC Porto this season and he has shown the coach that he can count on him. Evanilson’s focus is 100% at FC Porto,” Barros told O Jogo.
“It’s obvious that all players think about a transfer if that possibility arises. Evanilson is no exception. But his mind was never outside FC Porto.”
Since Newcastle are said to be close to announcing Alexander Isak’s arrival from Real Sociedad, it also looks like the Magpies found their favourite option at the Spanish club anyway.